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PREDEC 2016: The Turnover Process at Chalk River Laboratories from Operations to Decommissioning

February 16-18, Lyon, France

The Turnover Process at Chalk River Laboratories from Operations to

Decommissioning

Paul POTTELBERGa*

, Roger TREMBLAYb

a, bCanadian Nuclear Laboratories, 286 Plant Rd., Chalk River, Ontario, K0J 1J0

*corresponding author: paul.pottelberg@cnl.ca

Keywords: decommissioning, turnover process, safe shutdown, HSSE.

ASTRACT

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has 200 facilities that account for approximately 2 million square feet of

building space. Currently there are 23 facilities undergoing various stages of Decommissioning. An additional

30 facilities are scheduled to be turned over to Decommissioning in 2016.

CNL is currently restructuring to transition to a Government Owned/Contractor Operated (GoCo) organization

and there will be a focus to accelerate the Decommissioning of legacy facilities on site.

In the past, facilities were shutdown and left in various configurations with limited documentation or limited

staff knowledge of the status of the facility at the start of Decommissioning. Recently, guidelines have been

developed to ensure that any facility being turned over is put into a proper and documented safe shutdown

configuration. This paper will look at CNL’s process for turnover of facilities from Operations to

Decommissioning and identify some of the key Lessons Learned.

The turnover of nuclear facilities, administrative & support buildings, components or areas from Operations to

Decommissioning needs to be documented and managed to ensure Health, Safety, Security and Environmental

(HSSE) risks are identified, eliminated or effectively controlled.

At CNL, the turnover document Table of Contents is: Introduction and Purpose; Facility Boundaries; Known

Deficiencies; Facility Status; Shutdown Status; Hazards; System/Equipment; Drawings/Maps/Records;

Significant Environmental Aspects (SEAs); Interface; and other Transfer Documentation. The transfer

documentation specifically covers:

Defined boundaries of the facility, building, component or area at the time of turnover;

Identification of all deficiencies associated with the facility, building, component or area and the person,

after turnover, who will be responsible for correcting them;

Confirmation of the status of the facility, building, component or area at the time of turnover with respect

to:

The status of the Preliminary Decommissioning Plan (PDP). If the PDP is not current then it should be

revised before Facilities Decommissioning accepts full responsibility for the facility, building,

component or area;

Details of Shutdown activities (e.g. isolations, draining, decontamination, etc.);

Hazards that remain;

Significant environmental aspects and operational controls;

Details of system/equipment that remain energized or continue to perform their design function (e.g.

holding tank still containing radiological liquid, etc.);

Updated drawings and equipment specifications;

Status of Engineering Change Control (ECC) that are in progress;

Safety Related Systems (SRS) list;

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Fire code & building code violations or deficiencies;

Maintenance schedule;

Inventory of Nuclear Materials;

Governing documents e.g. Criticality Safety Document, Preliminary Decommissioning Plan,

Environmental Assessment, Safety Analysis Report, Facility Authorization, etc.;

Outstanding Regulatory commitments;

Information on any required amendments to the Site License; and

Listing of all documentation and records to be included with the Transfer Certificate.

Key responsibilities are laid out defining what is required from each party and other groups involved in the

transfer of the facility.

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1. INTRODUCTION

In the past, facilities were shutdown and left in various configurations with limited documentation or limited

staff knowledge of the status of the facility at the start of Decommissioning. Guidelines have been developed

to ensure that any facility being turned over today is put into a defined and documented safe shutdown

configuration.

The turnover of facilities, buildings, components or areas from Operations to Decommissioning needs to be

documented and managed to ensure Health, Safety, Security and Environmental (HSSE) risks are identified,

eliminated or effectively controlled.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) follows the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Regulatory

Guide G-219 – Decommissioning Planning for Licensed Activities [1] and CSA standard N294-09

Decommissioning of Facilities Containing Nuclear Substances [2]. There is a process that is followed at

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories to turn over Facilities that perform licensed activities from Operations to

Decommissioning.

The first step is for the facility to be declared “redundant” by the Operations organization. There are many

factors that can lead to this decision including political, social, new business mission, building in poor physical

condition, end-of-life cycle or replacement with a new facility. Once Operations decide that the facility is no

longer required, they must prepare a Permanent Safe Shutdown State Plan (PSSSP).

The objective of the transition to a permanent safe shut down state (PSSS) is to place the facility and systems

in a condition requiring minimal staffing, maintenance and monitoring to maintain the facility in a safe state

and controlling or preventing the release of materials to the environment.

The PSSSP provides the following:

Scope, items to be removed, items that will remain in service, and the building condition;

A description of facility, construction, timeline (history), purpose and main flow sheets;

The current status of building and process services, including relevant preventative maintenance

information;

Identification of all deficiencies associated with the facility, building, component or area;

Sequence of activities performed to eliminate or reduce any type of hazard to onsite workers, the

public or the environment, (radiological, chemical, designated substances, industrial);

The radiological levels and characterization of residual contamination;

Remaining hazards and conditions;

A list of references used to create the PSSSP; and

A template (in the Appendix) for recording details and results from all activities in the PSSSP to

ensure they are achieved.

In order to develop the PSSSP it may require other supporting information including characterization and

engineering / optioneering to support decisions made in the PSSSP.

Key responsibilities are laid out defining what is required from each party and other groups involved in the

transfer of the facility.

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1.1 Licensing Process for Transferring Nuclear Facilities from an Operating State to a

Storage-with-Surveillance (SWS) or Decommissioning State

“The licensing philosophy of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) consists in having a Licence

and an associated Chalk River Laboratories Licence Conditions Handbook (LCH).”[3]

“The Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) Nuclear Research and Test Establishment Operating Licence [4]

contains clear and concise conditions, grouped by safety and control areas, which:

identify programs that must be implemented and maintained by the licensee; and

contains a table of radioactive release limits found in Appendix A to the licence.

The associated CRL Licence Condition Handbook contains:

compliance criteria for each licence condition;

appropriate delegation of authority to CNSC staff, where applicable;

reference to licensee documentation;

reference to codes and standards;

reference to CNSC regulatory documents; and

specific commitments made by the licensee to ensure compliance with the CNSC requirements.”

“The purpose of the CRL Handbook is, for each licence condition, to identify and clarify the regulatory

requirements and other relevant parts of the licensing basis to help ensure that the licensee maintains facility

operation in accordance with the licensing basis for the facility and the intent of the CRL operating licence.

The CRL Handbook provides compliance verification criteria for conditions set out in the licence. For this

reason, the criteria are written in mandatory language.” [3]

Several appendices (A-M) are attached to the CRL Handbook. They provide detailed criteria and clarifications

where needed, and are integral and mandatory parts of the CRL Handbook. A short description of a few of the

appendices attached to the CRL Handbook is provided below.

Appendix A provides a template that will be used to initiate and document the changes to the CRL Handbook.

Appendix B includes a series of tables which list nuclear and support facilities at CRL that are subject to

CNSC regulatory oversight, regardless of the state of the facility. Nuclear Facilities typically transition from

Operations to a SWS state to allow a period for the development of a Detailed Decommissioning Plan (DDP).

The facility would then transition from the SWS state to a separate table in appendix B of the LCH that lists all

Nuclear Facilities undergoing decommissioning. The figure below (Figure 1) illustrates the licensing process

for transitioning from an operating state to a SWS state. Note: SRC – Safety Review Committee is a CNL

committee, responsible for performing independent reviews of safety case documents.

Figure 1- The CNL Process – Initial Documents

Appendix D includes a list of approved documents and serves as a Document Version Control.

Yes

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Appendix H includes a list of criteria for reportable events.

Appendix I includes a list of the action levels.

“The construction and decommissioning model for Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) site is one of individual

construction or decommissioning projects for its various components over time, each project will be subject to

appropriate levels of approval. At the end of the CRL site operational life, a single project (for the site

decommissioning as a whole) will occur, until then, individual licence applications will be submitted for each

project/facility. Each construction or decommissioning project is subject to the appropriate level of approval,

including a determination of the need for an environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental

Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA). If CNSC approval is required, the determination of the need for an

environmental assessment under CEAA is done by CNSC staff. If CNSC approval is not required, the

determination of the need for an environmental assessment under CEAA is done by other involved responsible

authorities or by the licensee. In any case, an environmental assessment under CEAA may be required.” [3]

At CRL, CNL remains the licensee, regardless of the facility state (construction, commissioning, operations,

decommissioning). CNL is a matrix organization, composed of various business lines, including Operations

and Decommissioning

The PSSSP is executed by the Operation Group in accordance with the facility’s licensing documents listed in

Appendix D of the CRL License condition Handbook (LCH) or the Safety Assessment Report (SAR).

Once the PSSSP is achieved, the Storage-with-Surveillance (SWS) Plan replaces the previous licensing

documents. The SWS plan does not come into effect until it has been accepted by the Commission and the

licensee has been informed the facility can be transitioned from Operations to Decommissioning.

SWS is a planned period in the decommissioning life cycle of a facility or building during which the remaining

structures, equipment, contaminated materials and site are kept under controlled surveillance and maintained in

a safe condition. The activities involved are described in a Storage-with-Surveillance Plan.

Regulatory control by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) remains in effect during SWS

periods.

The SWS Plan provides the following information:

the purpose and scope of the plan;

the facility description and operating history, including any failures or known significant incidents;

a list of all functional remaining services and systems;

a list of all the required monitoring, surveillance and testing activities required; and

existing building hazards including radiological, chemical, industrial and criticality control.

The SWS also describes hazard control measures, access control, zoning, environmental protection, emergency

planning, usage boundaries, the facility change or modification process, waste management, quality assurance

and training requirements.

1.2 CNL Internal Transfer – Operations to Decommissioning

All turnovers shall be consistent with the Nuclear Research Test Establishment Operating License issued by

the CNSC. [4]

Listed Nuclear Facilities are operated in accordance with the requirements of the Nuclear Safety Control Act,

its regulations and the CRL site licence. At the end of their useful lives, the facilities must be safely shut down

while respecting the requirements of the facility authorization. At the time of transfer, the Preliminary

Decommissioning Plan should be up-to-date and Storage-with-Surveillance Plan prepared.

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The SWS Plan will become the new governing document after its transfer to Facilities Decommissioning. The

facility owner shall ensure these documents are in place at the time of transfer.

An internal CNL document and a Transfer Certificate are prepared to transfer the ownership of the facility

from Site Operations to Facilities Decommissioning (FD).

At Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, the turnover document contains the following information:

Introduction and Purpose

Through the approval of this document, the responsibility for the maintenance, care, control and security of the

facility is turned over from Operations to Facilities Decommissioning. This change in responsibility is in

accordance with the requirements of the Facilities Decommissioning Quality Assurance Plan and the Turnover

to Facilities Decommissioning Procedure.

Facility Boundaries

The facility/building boundaries are described as the facility/building footprint plus one meter around the

perimeter of the facility/building, including any additional structures or components that may be included e.g.

storage tanks.

Known Deficiencies

Any deficiencies or departures from the permanent safe shutdown state plan are listed and the record copy of

the PSSSP is appended to the transfer certificate.

Facility Status

Operations certify that the facility, building, component or area is in a permanent safe shutdown state.

Any gaps or exceptions between existing conditions and permanent safe shutdown state plan expectations are

summarized in a table and included in the turnover document.

Shutdown Status

This section documents the activities carried out by Operations to remove components/furniture, isolate

systems as well as general post operational clean-up activities. The building services conditions are described

in the permanent safe shutdown state plan report. On approval of the transfer certificate, the responsibility for

any further monitoring, maintenance and shutdown activities are the responsibility of Facilities

Decommissioning.

Hazards

All remaining hazards (radiological, industrial, chemical etc.) are identified and a link to the specific section of

the governing Permanent Safe Shutdown State Plan is provided.

It is expected that bulk inventories of radioactive material and sources, chemicals and other hazardous material

be removed from the facility where practical. This could include emptying of tanks and other vessels that

contain process liquid or solid wastes. It is expected some hazards will remain at the time of transfer but those

should be identified. This would include known asbestos, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Mercury (Hg) in

switches, industrial hazards and others. Records of spills, accidents and malfunctions should be provided.

System/Equipment

The status of process systems, services and other equipment should be described. Defective equipment should

be disconnected. All process equipment is to be isolated, drained and placed into a safe, shutdown state.

Non-essential services should be removed where possible or isolated with proper lock out/tag out in place.

Systems are to be de-energized and lines purged and/or flushed out (e.g. process lines, Hydrogen (H2) lines,

etc.). Safety systems such as HEPA filtered exhaust ventilation, area radiation monitoring instruments and fire

detection and protection equipment and emergency lights are typically required to remain operational until

final Decommissioning.

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Drawings/Maps/Records

Typically, a list of the applicable drawings is included as an appendix to the transfer certificate. Relevant

drawings and equipment specifications should be provided. Drawings should be marked up where systems or

equipment were removed or modified during the PSSSP. This includes the status of any Engineering Change

Control (ECC’s) that are in progress or not closed out.

This section may also contain a requirement for the Operations group to forward key records (e.g. logs,

maintenance records, inspection reports, operational records etc.) to Facilities Decommissioning within a

specified time from the date of signing the transfer certificate. FD personnel will confirm that all required

records for the proposed turnover are complete, correct and stored in the CNL records management system.

Significant Environmental Aspects (SEAs)

The list of significant environmental aspects and the applicable control measures should be provided to

Facilities Decommissioning along with a list of operational limits and controls.

This section identifies the environmental aspects of the facility, building, component or area which is to be

transferred with a link to the specific environmental evaluation/assessment reports which need to be identified

in full.

Inventory of Nuclear Materials

It is fully expected that nuclear materials and sources will have been removed from the facility. The remaining

‘source term’ would then be limited to embedded contamination and possibly loose contamination located in

inaccessible areas. The radiological safety zoning should be updated. Areas of known contamination should be

communicated to Facilities Decommissioning.

Fire & Building code violations or deficiencies

Any known deficiencies or violations should be identified. This should also include any outstanding actions

from the Fire Hazard Analyses (FHA) or fire inspections.

Safety Related Systems List

This list should include any system that is required for the period of SWS.

Regulatory Commitments

Any outstanding commitments should be communicated to Facilities Decommissioning at the time of transfer.

It is expected the facility owner will have attempted to address those commitments by the transfer date.

Governing documents

The Criticality Safety Document (CSD), Preliminary Decommissioning Plan (PDP), Environmental

Assessment (EA), Safety Analysis Report (SAR), Facility Authorization (FA), where applicable should be

updated. Some of these documents may be replaced by the SWS plan. Any commitment to revise licensing

documentation should be communicated to Facilities Decommissioning.

Interface

In this section document any ongoing support that may continue to be provided by Operations i.e. until FD

staff is fully trained and qualified.

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2. ADDITIONAL DECOMMISSIONING REQUIREMENTS

Additional decommissioning documentation may be prepared or started while a facility is still under

Operations. This documentation is used in the process to prepare for Decommissioning of a facility. Some of

the key steps involve facility walk downs, performing radiological gap analysis, preparing & implementing

scoping surveys, performing building condition assessments, preparing cost, waste and dose estimates, all of

this information feeds into the development of the Detailed Decommissioning Plan (DDP). The detailed

decommissioning plan is based on the preliminary decommissioning plan (PDP). The preliminary

decommissioning plan is required to be prepared as early as possible in the life-cycle of a licensed activity.

The preliminary decommissioning plan (PDP) should have been maintained during facility operations.

The PDP should be reviewed and updated in light of operational experience and technological advances. All

significant changes should be discussed with the assigned CNSC officer.

During the facility operation stage, the CNSC may inspect the facility operational records and preliminary

decommissioning plan for the purpose of ensuring that the plan and the financial guarantee program remain

consistent with the projected scale of the decommissioning effort.

The detailed decommissioning plan is normally a refinement and procedural of the work package structure

established in the PDP. The results of detailed post-operational contamination surveys, assessments of hazard

and environmental impacts and new technological developments or regulatory requirements may precipitate a

change in the decommissioning strategy. The DDP should include the following elements: [1]

A brief description of, and diagram showing the various areas, components and structures to be

decommissioned;

A history of the operation and any incidents or accidents that may affect the decommissioning;

A statement of the final radiological, physical and chemical end-state objectives for the site;

A description of any specific requirement for long-term institutional controls;

Results of a comprehensive & systematic survey of the radiological and other potentially hazardous

conditions at the facility, including any remain gaps or uncertainties;

Overview of the decommissioning strategy for each planning envelope, highlighting any significant

changes from the preliminary plan strategy;

A description of each decommissioning work package;

A schedule, cost estimate and financial guarantee;

A description of the waste management plan; including expected quantities and clearance levels;

An assessment of the potential environmental effects and the measure to mitigate and monitor them;

Information on the quality assurance, emergency response, site security, radiation protection,

environmental protection, personnel training, human factors and occupational health and safety

programs;

A list of federal and provincial regulatory agencies involved;and

Final radiation survey requirements and listing of records and retention periods.

The Detailed Decommissioning Plan should describe the method or combination of methods selected for

decommissioning (i.e. long-term storage, prompt decontamination and dismantlement or partial D&D). It

should include a list and describe the major activities and tasks related to decommissioning. The activities and

tasks should be identified and discussed briefly in the order that they will take place. The level of detail of the

description provided for each of the activities will depend on the nature of the activity. For prompt

decommissioning/dismantlement some of the activities that would be described are, removal of the vessel and

internals removal of other large components, including major radioactive components, removal of the primary

system(s), removal of any structures, decontamination of radioactive components, including chemical

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decontamination techniques, special or unusual activities (i.e. removing debris/sludge from bays /pools), on

site storage, shipment and processing and final storage location.

If a facility is going to go into long-term storage (Storage-with-Surveillance) the activities and tasks required

to maintain the facility in a safe state should also be discussed, such as, draining of specific systems &

processes, decontamination of specific high doses areas & equipment, removal of waste, de-energizing or

deactivating specific systems, reconfiguration of specific systems, inspection, testing and monitoring

plans/requirements during SWS and any required preventative maintenance.

2.1 Change Control Strategy

The primary processes that will guide the safety evaluation of the Facility Shutdown Project work activities

include the Engineering Change Control (ECC), Conduct of Operation Procedure (CO) and/or Work Plan

Procedure (WP). These processes require that the safety significance of any change be thoroughly evaluated

against the facility safety case and for activities that may challenge the established safety envelope be reviewed

and confirmed by the CNL Safety Review Committee (SRC) and in some cases reviewed and approved by the

CNSC.

The facility Safety Related Systems List (SRSL) will need to be revised and presented to the SRC and CNSC.

The revision should identify the systems that will no longer be considered safety related once the specific

associated hazard is sufficiently reduced or eliminated. All shutdown project activities will be planned such

that the safety related systems needed to support safe shutdown will be operated within the boundaries

currently credited in the safety analyses until it has been formally demonstrated that the hazards they mitigate

are no longer present.

The specified change category for each work scope is based on the anticipated safety category of the associated

system at the time the work is to be performed.

2.2 Engineering Change Control Phases

The Engineering Change Control process subdivides scopes of work into phases. A phase is a scope of work

that eventually will be captured and carried out in a work package or work plan. Work activities for the

identified phases do not need to occur sequentially but rather will be performed in any order dependent upon

the technical work logic which is continually updated in the project schedule. However, for most Facility

Shutdown Projects, the phase numbers are assigned to reflect planning priorities based on currently known

project schedule drivers.

2.2.1 Engineering Change Category Justification

An example of an Engineer Change Control Phase, showing the expected Permanent Safe Shutdown State

Configuration for the ventilation may include the following information.

The final ventilation system(s) for Building A, Building B, Building C, Building D Pits, and Building E

configured to support maintaining the facilities in a PSSS during the SWS period.

All current ventilation lines to Building E will be permanently blanked / capped. Building F ventilation

system – maintain operational.

Ventilation exhaust sources to Building E from Buildings A, B, C, D, G, and H isolated and connection

points permanently blanked/capped and all HEPA filters, charcoal absorbers and monitoring equipment

removed.

Building E fans (E-1, E-2, E-3, E-4, S-1, and S-2) de-energized and electrical power source air gapped.

A shutdown schedule is developed to track and co-ordinate the activities required to achieve the permanent

safe shutdown down state for the facility.

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Figure 2 - Example of a Project Shutdown Schedule

2.3 Conduct Building Condition Assessment of the Facility

2.3.1 Scope – Where Long Term Storage is required

Perform a building condition assessment of the facility and recommend actions required to maintain the

asset in operating condition during the extended defined period of time. Some of the elements that should

be inspected include Architectural, Structural, Transportation, Mechanical and Electrical elements.

The objective of the building condition assessment is to investigate various site and building factors at the

element level, including:

Element condition;

Equipment obsolescence;

Design problems and deficiencies that adversely affect operation and maintenance activities;

Compliance with the latest edition/revision of applicable codes, standards, policies, directives; and

Assessment of remaining life.

2.3.2 Additional Detail

A building condition assessment is performed in order to determine the most appropriate management

strategy for retention, maintenance, and/or retrofit/renewal. Analysis of the inventory is critical to the

effective and efficient life-cycle management of the inventory, and a building condition report provides the

detailed technical information upon which this management strategy is based.

A building condition assessment is typically done early in the Facility Shutdown Project (i.e., early in

preliminary design) to identify any additional work that may need to be accomplished during transition to

place the facility in a PSSS.

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3. KEY LESSONS LEARNED

The shutdown of the NRX reactor took place in 1993. Numerous documents were written for shutting down

each of the systems. Once the plans were implemented the reactor was placed in Storage-with-Surveillance and

the facility staffing levels were adjusted accordingly. Over the years and through attrition, most staff familiar

with the facility had moved on and/or retired. The current team looking after the facility found that not all

drawings were maintained up-to-date or that they matched the physical plant configuration. It was also found

that the records expected from following the documents written to shut down the systems were hard to find or

missing. The decommissioning team brought in a retiree familiar with the systems and the shutdown activities

to verify the current plant status and to document it in an end-state report. The need to properly maintain

records, drawing and photos during shutdown from operations to decommissioning is critical.

The CRL site has operated for more than 70 years, during the time facilities have been modified, cleaned up

and re-used to support various missions over that time frame. Some of the facilities ceased operations in the

50’s and remain in SWS today. Some of the historical data to support today’s decommissioning goal is either

lost or there is no record available.

There have been numerous issues that have led to the challenges being faced with configuration management.

There was a fire on site in the mid 1950’s that burned down a building that housed many records being

stored on site. Most documents destroyed were not backed up by any other means. (Loss of Historical

records)

Figure 3 – Fire at CNL facility in the 1950’s

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In the past, some of the scanned documentation was poor quality making it very difficult to read.

Originals may no longer be available. In some cases, these are the only remaining record. (Quality of

records)

Figure 4 – Poor quality records

Verification of information provided on the record is critical. In the past, some records were not

verified and information was either missing and/or incomplete. Documents had to be walked down and

field verified again to confirm status.

(Completion of records)

Figure 5 - Record Copy – Missing signature & sign-off Figure 6 - Field Verification required for end states

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Physical plant configuration does not always match paper configuration

Figure 7 – Configuration Management Challenges

As-builts on drawings and flow sheets were not always kept up-to-date in the past. It was dependant on

finances, staffing levels, engineering support and availability and even the location of the prints were

an issue. Equipment status pin boards for example were located in an area where someone could easily

brush up against it and knock the pins out. If they were not placed back in the correct position

configuration would be incorrect.

The decommissioning team is finding that physical plant configuration does not always match paper

configuration, which cause extra steps and precautions to be written in to the decommissioning plans

to deal with the unknowns.

Historically, there was internal pressure to turn facilities over from the operations group to

decommissioning. Often there was little to no funding available to perform post-operational clean-up

and safe shutdown of the facility and systems. Decommissioning accepted the liability in an “as-is”

state with the majority of the hazards and waste still within the facility. Decommissioning also learned

that once you take ownership of a facility you need to ensure that access is controlled. An example is,

a walk down was performed in an old lab facility and the contents were documented. After a short

period of time, the inventory in the building had accumulated. Other groups on site took it as an

opportunity to get rid of unwanted chemicals and other waste. Containers started showing up in the

fume hoods and lab benches without proper labelling. Extra effort on the part of Decommissioning

was required to properly identify contents and dispose of the chemicals and waste. Needless to say the

facility and exterior waste containers were soon locked and under Decommissioning control.

Figure 8 – Post Operational Clean Out Activities

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3.1 Final Thoughts

For legacy facilities, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) needs to place more focus of Knowledge

Management (KM) going forward. Knowledge Management should be a policy that is written into the

management system for the site. There needs to be effective succession planning, self assessments, external

benchmarking, incorporation of lessons learned and OPEX, and risk assessments should be carried out to

identify potential loss of critical knowledge and skills.

The operations group should be performing exit interviews to capture critical knowledge and experience when

people leave the groups and or organization, this could include video capture, mentoring and coaching and/or

narrative documentation. This information should be used to update the PDP and documentation created for

the transfer package.

When shutting down a facility and transferring it from Operations to Decommissioning; CNL should look to

capitalizing on the experience, training and knowledge of the existing operations staff. The operations staff can

be utilized to support the integrated project team supporting the decommissioning of the facility, staff can be

retained, retrained and redeployed as necessary to support the mission.

For new facilities, Management System needs to ensure Engineering Change Control (ECC) is applied to keep

configuration of the plant up-to-date. Lessons learned need to be captured in a central register. This database

would serve as one source of information when periodic updates to the PDP are done.

Decommissioning needs formalize the process to prepare a clear list of expectations with respect to facility

documents, records and status of the facility.

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4. REFERENCES

[1] (CNSC) Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission – Regulatory Guide G-219 – Decommissioning

Planning for Licensed Activities 2000 June

[2] (CSA) Canadian Standards Association – CSA N294-09 – Decommissioning of facilities containing

nuclear substances

[3] (CNL) Licence Conditions Handbook for Chalk River Laboratories (LCH) CRL-508760-HBK-001

Rev 3 2015 March

[4] (CNL) Nuclear Research and Test Establishment Operating Licence NRTEOL-01.02/2016 Expiry

Date: 2016 October 31